A few months after Jace said goodbye to Clary at the airport...


My phone started ringing while Maia and I were sprinkling sugar on a tray of doughnuts. I looked at the screen and blushed when I saw the words Golden Surprise flash across it. Maia gave me a knowing smile.

"Answer it, then!" She winked, "But tell the guy to try not to call you when you're at work!" I smirked, quickly washing my hands in the sink and drying them before picking up the phone.

"Thank god!" Jace chuckled, "I thought you were going to leave me hanging, and that would've been sad for me." I laughed, sitting down in a chair.

"You might be taking it easy over there, but some people have work to do, Goldie!" I chided half-heartedly. I could almost picture him smirking at the nickname. We had tonnes between us, using them more and more frequently since we'd got together. Maia said we were 'relationship goals' and that always made me laugh.

"Wait, you're working? It's, like, Saturday!" I rolled my eyes. Knowing Jace, he was probably slouching on some tasselled sofa, feet propped up, watching some English show. Brits...

"I'm almost done anyway, so not that bad." He scoffed on the other end, then grew oddly silent. "Jace? You okay?"

"What – um, yeah, fine." Something was up. "It's just that... I wish we could, you know, see each other, that's all. Skype doesn't count." I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"I know, but-"

"Maybe we could!" His voice sounded brighter, more hopeful. What was he thinking now...? I must've looked troubled because Maia frowned, miming if I was alright. I nodded distractedly and she went back to sugaring the doughnuts.

"What's the crazy idea, Einstein?"

"Maybe you could come over here. To England!" My eyes widened: to England? As in, England England?

"Seriously?" Jace was unruffled by my uncertainty.

"Sure! It's almost the summer holidays, and you could stay for like, a few weeks? Maybe more?"

I laughed, "Ease up, Herondale. This isn't something I can just say 'yes' to and that's that! I need my parents' permission for one thing, I need to pack and prepare... it's not an overnight decision."

Jace huffed, "You don't sound that thrilled. Don't you want to come?"

"Of course I do! I want to see you as much as you want to see me!" When he didn't answer I said gently, "It's just not as straight-forward as you think."

"You're right. I'm sorry, I was just, getting over-excited I guess." I smiled sadly; it was always going to be like this for us. Treading on eggshells, to not get carried away, if we wanted to be together. But that's the way it had to be.

"It's okay, Jace. Tell you what, I'll try to work something out. Yeah?"

"That would be flipping amazing!" I laughed at his enthusiasm, "Bye then, Red Velvet."

That voice... Even through a phone, he had a massive effect on me and he damn well knew it. As well as that nickname... Jesus save me now...

"Love you."

"Love you too." My heart melted, and I was smiling as I ended the call.

Maia raised an eyebrow, "I swear that boy is a bad influence. Every time you talk to him, you this weird, dreamy look in your eye and do this thing with your lip." I flushed red, covering my mouth with my hand instinctively.

"What do I do with it?"

She winked, hazel eyes sparkling, "I'll video the next time you talk to Jace and you can see for yourself." Then, Maia turned serious, "What were you talking about anyway? You were kind of agitated."

I took a deep breath, "Jace wants me to go over to England for see him." Maia gaped.

"Shut up, really?" I nodded and she squealed, "That's so cute! You're going right?" I rolled my eyes.

"You guys are exactly the same! I can't just pack my bags and go to a different country! My mum probably won't let me go anyway-"

"You don't know that." Maia cut in, "Mrs Morgenstern's alright, most of time..."

I raised my eyebrows, "'Most of the time'. There's no way."

"No way for what?" Simon came through the door from the main part of the bakery, taking off his apron.

"Jace's invited Clary to England and she's worried her mum's going to say no."

"She is going to say no, Maia! There's no point even pretending there's a chance!"

"So why'd you tell Jace you'd try to work something out?" I went quiet, biting my lip.

"I don't know, I didn't want to disappoint, that's all."

"Love makes liars of us all." Simon suddenly said, his eyes far away looking.

"Huh? That a quote from somewhere?" He shrugged, a bit too jerkily to be casual.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe." We all went uncomfortably silent before he spoke again, "Just came in to tell you girls you can pack up now. The Cherry on Top's closing for today."

We all said goodbye, making our own way home. As I rode on my bike, nerves rose in me and refused to go away. Should I even bother asking Mum? Well, it was worth the risk and I'd promised Jace.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door to the flat, calling out, "I'm home!" A chorus of shouts were sent my way. I thought back to the time when I'd had to tell Mum about Jace. Now that was a situation. She'd caught us Skyping and I'd had to do a lot of explaining, which wasn't easy with Jace's gorgeous face grinning at me from the screen. But I'd managed to do it, and she'd sort of come round. This time couldn't be any harder, could it?

"Mum!" I hung my jacket up on a hook, and when I turned around she was there, wearing some messy overalls.

"Have a nice day at work, sweetheart?"

I nodded, crossing my fingers behind my back. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." We both sat down, me biting my lip so hard, I was sure it was going to bleed. "What is it, Clary?"

I cleared my throat, "You know Jace lives in England?" At the mention of Jace, Mum's smile went tight.

"Yes." I cringed. She was already turning into Ice Queen.

"Well, he kind of invited me over there...?" I waited tensely for her reaction. Mum pursed her lips and laughed but it wasn't the funny kind of laugh.

"Well, you're not going." She said no just like that? Even I thought she'd let me try to persuade her!

"But Mum, I barely get to see him and the holidays are coming up-"

"Clary, enough!" I clamped my lips shut, "This is exactly why I don't like you hanging around that boy! He's put this rebellious streak in you and it's horrible!" I felt offended on behalf of Jace, and I clenched and unclenched my fists.

Luke came walking into the room, "What's wrong with my two favourite girls then?"

"This young lady wants to go exploring in England!" Luke sat down next to Mum, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"Well, what's wrong with that?"

"See! There's nothing wrong with it!"

Mum glared at me and I swallowed, gluing my eyes to the floor, "What's wrong with it is the fact she's going over there to visit him." She said it as if it were a bad word and I hated it.

Luke whistled under his breath, "Well, she's growing up, Jocelyn. Maybe we should give her a bit of-"

"No, I'm not having her staying over in another country, alone, with him." She stressed on the words 'alone' and 'him'. I rolled my eyes.

"Mum, please. I... I really love him and..." I stopped biting my lip, "I really want to see him."

Mum opened her mouth as if to argue but stopped and looked at me. Her expression softened, "Well... I guess..." She turned to Luke who nodded, "Ok, but don't make me regret it." I laughed, reaching over to hug them both.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" I ran to my bag, got my phone and ran into my bedroom.

After three rings, Jace picked up, "Hey, Red Velvet, what's up?"

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"I can go to England!" There was a pause then he was shouting excitedly.

"What, really? Oh my god, yes! When?" I chuckled.

"Don't know the details yet, but aren't you happy?"

"No, Clary, I'm positively pissed at you coming over to visit me. Why'd you have to go and ruin my life? Of course, I'm bloody happy!" I giggled.

"Well, I'll hopefully see you soon."

"Can't wait!"

I ended the call, feeling on top of the world in that moment, like I could do anything. I would be going to see Jace, finally in the flesh, after all this time.

England couldn't come soon enough.


So this is officially the sequel to The Cherry on Top: The Icing on The Cake! I'm really excited for this one; it's my first sequel! ;)

I'm aiming for this one to be much longer than TCOT, as some people said they'd wished it had been longer. Also, I'll try to make the chapters longer as well. Did you like the start?

~InfernoAlive